Now the IRS offcer PayNow QR as a payment option on its myTax portal.

As a result of the collaboration between DBS Bank and IRS, now Singaporeans would be able to pay their taxes such as income tax, property tax, service tax digitally.

Raof Latiff, Group Head of Digital, Institutional Banking, DBS Bank told the media, “Singapore continues to make steady headway in fulfilling its ambition to become a digital payments society with statutory boards such as IRAS taking the lead to implement secure and instant payment solutions that provide greater convenience to individual and corporate taxpayers. The QR code has become increasingly ubiquitous and we look forward to supporting IRAS in continued efforts to enhance their customer payment journey and drive broader adoption of QR payments locally.”

DBS Bank, which is the largest bank in Southeast Asia, announced a 22 percent drop in its second quarter profit for this year. This is mainly due to the money it set aside to deal with loan losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the bank, it’s net profit fell to S$91.35 billion in the April-to-June quarter — down from S$1.6 billion a year ago.

It further said it expects its loans portfolio to grow by 5 percent for the full year, led by non-trade corporate loans; while net interest margins could inch lower to 1.6 percent.

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The bank’s decision comes after the Singapore government increased risk-share of loans to 90 percent. For that reason, UOB has extended the loans for its mid-sized enterprise clients, especially in sectors adversely affected by the ongoing pandemic.

It is reported that these sectors include construction, consumer staples, retail and hospitality. The bank has digitised its loan application process. This will allow clients to receive their funds in a span of one week, media reports said.

In addition, UOB has introduced a $3b relief assistance for businesses affected by the pandemic. The bank is also collaborating with Singapore Press Holdings and Singtel to provide new laptops and online learning resources for 250 underprivileged students in Singapore, media reports said.

Last week, the city-state extended the lockdown to June 1. Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, UOB, told the media, “At UOB, our duty of care to our communities includes helping the members of our society who may be struggling through these difficult to better times. Through UOB My Digital Space, we are bridging the digital gap for children from needy families and ensuring that they are not left out of the world of opportunities education can bring. COVID-19 has brought with it a disruption to school-based learning across Asia and this is being most keenly felt by children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This initiative is part of our #UnitedForYou COVID-19 Relief Programme to help our communities and customers through the COVID-19 pandemic and to emerge stronger together.”

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Banks in Singapore can defer both the principal and interest payments for mortgages through December 31^st, due to the Covid-19 outbreak the central bank said.

This adds to several other fiscal and monetary measures undertaken by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to help the city-state deal with the worst economic downturn in a decade caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

More than S$40 billion of existing loan facilities to small businesses will likely qualify for the relief plan announced for Singapore bank customers due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Samuel Tsien, chairman of the Association of Banks in Singapore, said in the statement, “The shock to the economy from the COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented. We must take extraordinary measures to address not just a health crisis, but what has developed to become a deep global economic crisis.”

Banks such as DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking and United Overseas Bank are already taking steps to provide Singaporeans with measures that include deferring principal repayments and liquidity relief.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, along with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the Life Insurance Association (LIA), the General Insurance Association (GIA), and the Finance Houses Association of Singapore (FHAS),  revealed a series of support packages to help ease the financial strain on individuals and SMEs caused by coronavirus pandemic.

The measures undertaken by the authorities will help individuals and businesses meet their loan and insurance commitments. They are also designed to support SMEs with continued access to bank credit and insurance cover and ensure interbank funding markets remain liquid and in good health.

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Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s banks are preparing to offer broader loan deferrals to the tune of $32.8 billion to soften the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Malaysian banks will offer six-month deferrals for all individual and SME loans. They will also allow people to convert their credit card debt into three-year term loans.

In Singapore, companies facing liquidation jumped to 287 in 2019, the highest since 2005. The city state also saw 434 individual bankruptcies, the highest since 2004. All of these are expected to lead to an increase in bad loans at Singapore banks including at DBS Group Holdings.

Although the Singapore banks have announced easing of borrowing terms, analysts at Sanford Bernstein were quoted by regional media as saying that non-performing loan ratios for DBS and OCBC could climb to 1.8% this year from 1.5% in 2019. At UOB, the ratio may jump to 1.9% from 1.5%, they said. UOB had earlier said that its bad loan costs are expected to rise more than expected due to the Coronavirus outbreak and the steep fall in oil prices.

The Malaysian banking regulator has allowed Banks to draw down capital conservation buffer of 2.5 percent, operate below minimum liquidity coverage of 100 per cent, and use regulatory reserves, according to the press release.

Meanwhile in Southeast Asia, the Vietnam government has said that several banks have seen their bad debt ratios rise as clients face liquidity challenges due to the Coronavirus outbreak. According to a Vietnam government press release, 14.3 percent of the total lending at 23 credit institutes has been affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.

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According to media reports, both DBS Bank and OCBC Bank issued their first electronic banker’s guarantee on the Singapore Customs Electronic Banker’s Guarantee Programme on Monday.

The progamme is designed to shorten the banker’s guarantee issuance and submission process to the Singapore Customs from about four working days to less than 24 hours.

During the same period, DBS also completed its first trade financing transaction on the CamelOne Trade Finance Portal (TFP)- ) – which is Singapore’s first digital trade financing platform backed by banks such as United Overseas Bank, OCBC Bank, ANZ, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, MUFG and Standard Chartered Bank.

The trade finance transaction completed by DBS Bank relates to a $4.8 million letter of credit by Super Steel, a Singapore-based steel wholesaler, and supplier.

By digitalising trade finance, the TFP makes trade finance efficient in an unstable environment effected by political instability, trade frictions, and the Covid-19 epidemic.

DBS group head of trade product management Sriram Muthukrishnan told the media, “Trade finance is the lifeblood of commerce but can sometimes be quite manual and complex. By digitalising trade financing services through a one-stop portal, we are able to provide swift, easy and contact-free financing solutions to help our customers enjoy greater peace of mind when it comes to managing their banking needs.”

Earlier this month, DBS Bank also completed its first digital trade deal using the Networked Trade Platform (NTP)- a government of Singapore initiative which digitises paperwork to make government certification and third-party commercial services simpler.

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The trade deal which was completed by DBS Bank using the NTP relates to a $2.5 million letter of credit transaction between Audi and Premium Automobiles.

While traditionally, the whole process would take almost a week for it to be completed, now using NTP, DBS Bank completed it within 24 hours.

The massive reduction in time is facilitated by the online submission of bank applications and trade documents, which in turn enable banks to process the edocuments in real-time. The platform also provides regular updates to all parties.

DBS Group Head of Trade Product Management Sriram Muthukrishnan told the media, “Technology continues to fundamentally reshape the world of trade and finance. With digitisation, trade information is increasingly democratised and interoperability between trade platforms is enhanced, allowing for efficient and seamless trade. The NTP enables client activities to come together in a secure and efficient digital environment.”

The NTP was developed by Singapore Customs and the Government Technology Agency in a bid to digitise trade in the region. The platform enables end-to-end digital trade by bringing all players in the trade value chain under a single platform.

Last month, DBS Bank launched a new cashless payment solution to help businesses dealing in cash make faster payments to their vendors or suppliers.

It targets the large cash and paper-based business-to-business payments and collections landscape in Singapore such as the food and beverage industry.

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Previously, Citi’s women staff did not receive equal compensation compared to their male peers. The bank carried out a global pay equity review to develop measures to close the gender pay gap. Following that, it has announced salary adjustments to its select women staff. The review was released in January 2019. 

According to the review, women were paid on average 99 percent of what their male peers were paid on an adjusted basis, the media reported. The adjust pay gap points to pay including base salary and bonuses for equal work which has been adjusted considering key factors such as job designation, geography and job function. 

Jorge Osorio, head of human resources, Citi Singapore, was quoted in Business Times, “While we have moved forward in our goals, more needs to be done. We are committed to meet our global goal of having at least 40 percent of women in these roles by 2021 and to provide a level playing field to all our employees to enable them to succeed.”

Last December, Citi  promoted 14 women equal to 31 percent of the total 45 managing directors in the region. The numbers have increased from 21 percent in the year before. 

The Ministry of Manpower and the National University of Singapore shows that women in the city-state earned 6 percent less than men in 2018. This was after adjusting factors such as occupation, age and education. Despite the gender gap pay reduced from 8.8 percent in 2002, senior roles are still male dominated, the study concluded. 

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Gaw Capital Partners is a private equity firm in Hong Kong. The syndicated loan will finance both companies’ $1.575 billion joint acquisition of Duo Tower and Duo Galleria from a national joint venture between Singapore and Malaysia (M+S), the Business Times reported. 

Duo Tower has 570,000 sq ft of prime Grade A commercial space, and Duo Galleria has 56,000 sq ft of retail space. They are a part of Singapore’s  Ophir-Rochor precinct.

Lim Lay Wah, UOB’s global head of financial institutions group, told the Business Times, “The real estate sector has been leading the charge in the demand for green financing, with more property owners, managers and financial sponsors upholding sustainability standards as part of their climate action efforts.”

Singapore is a fast-developing hub for green and sustainable loan issuances. It has more than $6 billion of loan issuances between 2018 and October 2019, according to Patrick Lee, chief executive of Standard Chartered Singapore. 

Previously, UOB, DBS and Standard Chartered were the green loan advisors, mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners for Gaw and Allianz joint venture Ophir-Rochor Commercial.

Earlier this month, Allianz expanded its logistics presence in France with the acquisition of a €200 million core assets from AG Real Estate. The core assets are in Réau, Pont-d’Ain, Chaponnay and Onnaing, according to the local media report. 

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OCBC Bank has collaborated with Revenue Group to launch the new service. The terminal, developed by Revenue Group, will help businesses offer their customers a fast and convenient service experience. Businesses will be able to accept payments through multiple channels involving QR codes, near-field communications (NFC), chip cards, and traditional magnetic strip cards.

In a statement, the bank revealed that the payment device, which is powered by the Android, comes with a high definition colour touch screen display. It also has a super-fast thermal printer that is neatly hidden below to maximise screen usage for customers performing electronic transactions.

OCBC Bank’s head of consumer lifestyle finance Ryan Kong told the media, “The Android-based payment terminal also allows OCBC Bank to maximise the potential of the application, with the option to expand to include features like reward points accumulation and redemption at merchant purchase points. This places us in the forefront of the development of payment technology.”

He added, “OCBC Bank currently has more than 11,000 electronic data capture (EDC) terminals nationwide through a diverse range of merchants spanning a variety of industries including food and beverage, retail, fashion, electronics, telecommunications, and petrol stations.”

Recently, OCBC announced its partnership with Google and its plans to launch an upgraded Google Pay app in Singapore next year. The service, which is in its beta-phase, will allow OCBC customers in Singapore to make account-to-account fund transfer by linking their bank accounts to Google.

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According to media reports, OCBC along with its partners are planning to bid for one of the three wholesale digital banking licences offered by regulators in Singapore.

Over the years, the bank has concentrated on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The decision to form a digital bank will further boost OCBC’s presence in the SME lending space.

But at the same time, a new digital bank means it will be in direct competition with OCBC’s own digital banking unit.

With regard to this, OCBC’s chief operating officer Ching Wei Hong earlier told the media, “We have to accept that there will be cannibalisation. But on the other hand, the mothership should also be in a position to go out and compete.”

OCBC, which is Singapore’s second-largest bank, recently announced that its profits were down by 6 percent to $1.17 billion in the third quarter from $1.25 billion during the same period last year. This is mainly due to a one-time charge of $91 million which came from a refinement in the group’s expected credit loss modelling approach for its OCBC banking unit in Indonesia.

While OCBC’s total income for the quarter increased by 4 percent to $2.66 billion from $2.54 billion year-on-year, the bank’s net interest income for the quarter also increased by 6 percent to $1.6 billion from $1.51 billion.

Earlier this month, the bank also announced a new facility that will allow startups to open a business account in Singapore immediately after incorporation, instead of having to wait for a day.

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